Chapter Thirteen
Night fell and Buffy was standing in the living room waiting for the limo. She was excited to have some time alone with Faith before they picked up the others. She knew Kennedy would be in the car too but Kennedy knew about them so she could kiss Faith in front of Kennedy.
Dawn, carrying a sandwich and a glass of soda, walked into the living room and placed the food on the coffee table before she turned to her sister. "Hey Buffy, I like your dress."
That one line brought back memories of the first dance she'd gone to in Sunnydale...the one where she wore a beautiful white dress and ended up dying in it at the hands of the Master. Thankfully, Xander had revived her but still...not a happy memory. The whole night all anyone could say was the dress was nice or they liked her dress.
Buffy shook those memories out of her head and turned to her sister, "Thanks Dawn. So, just gonna watch TV tonight?"
"Yup, the boring life of a 13 year old."
"Good, trust me boring is good. Especially in Sunnydale. Just remember the rules ok?"
"Yeah, yeah I know. Would you relax already? Mom's working late but she'll be home soon and everything will be fine."
"I know it's just--"
Buffy was cut off by the honking horn of the limo.
"Ok, my ride's here. I gotta go. See you later."
"Bye."
Buffy left and walked out of her house and towards the waiting limo. She climbed in and closed the door before turning to face Faith and when she did...she saw Cordelia, not Faith.
Buffy looked at Cordy, "What's going on here? Where are Faith and Kennedy?"
Without a word, Cordy handed over a piece of paper with envelope. Buffy took it and began to read:
Dear Cordelia and Buffy,
We won't be riding to the dance with you. We want you to work out your problems, because our friendships are more important than who wins homecoming queen.
Your friends.
P.S. The limo was not cheap, work it out.
Buffy folded the paper again, at a loss as to how to proceed. She looked around and noticed the corsages between her and Cordy. "They bought us corsages?" In Buffy's mind, Faith had bought her the corsage, it was her fantasy so she could have it be from anyone.
"I took the orchid." Cordelia said, speaking for the first time.
"OK." Buffy couldn't see the point in arguing about corsages, even if she did like orchids better than the white carnations of the other corsage.
Finally, the car began to move as it pulled out of her driveway.
They drove for a while, in silence, and Cordy misinterpreted the silence and finally broke it by saying, "I don't see what the big deal is."
"I'm not making a big deal. You wanted the orchid, you got the orchid."
"It goes with my complexion better."
Buffy saw a chance to get a dig in, "It does have that sallow tint."
The limo pulled to a stop at last and Buffy said, "Finally were here."
Buffy waited for the driver to open the door but only heard footsteps walking away from the car. Confused, she got out of the car, Cordelia close behind her. The girls saw they were near the woods not at the Bronze where the dance was being held.
Cordy, thinking this was another part of her friends plan said in a loud voice, "OK, guys, we've had enough of your stupid little games!"
Buffy, however, was looking around and noticed a TV set with a VCR sitting on a rock. "What's massively wrong with this picture?" Buffy asked, not expecting Cordy to come up with a useful answer.
They walked closer to the TV and pressed play on the VCR, as instructed to by the sign resting on top of the VCR. The screen came to life as a dark skinned man appeared and with a glee that Buffy recognized as evil and vampiric began speaking.
"Hello ladies. Welcome to SlayerFest 98. What is a SlayerFest, you ask?" The girls were looking at the screen confused but paying attention. "Well, as in most of life, there's the hunters and the hunted. Can you guess where you two fall? From the beginning of this tape you have exactly 30 seconds---" The man checked his watch, "no, that's 17 now---to run for your lives. Faith...Buffy...have a nice death."
The screen faded to black and a red and white logo of SlayerFest filled the screen.
Cordy, in her usual way, only cared about the part that concerned her, "Hello! How stupid are you people? She's a slayer. I'm a homecoming queen."
The only reply was a gunshot to the TV. Which set the girls off on their run to save their lives. Buffy knew shed have to be responsible for Cordy's life and not let the girl die. Suddenly, part of her wished it was Faith with her so she would have another slayer with her but the rest of her was glad Faith was safely at the dance. At least then if she died, Faith would still be around to handle the slaying.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At the Bronze, the dance was going full swing. Kennedy and Faith were dancing, hoping that their deception of Buffy and Cordy didn't damage their standing with each girl. Kennedy hoped she'd keep her best friend. Faith was hoping Buffy wouldn't end their...whatever it was they were doing...because of this.
Xander and Willow, still feeling guilty over their kiss and the feelings they were suddenly feeling, stood on the edge of the dance floor looking up at the band---Oz's band--- as they played the song that Oz wrote for Willow.
Faith, needing a break from dancing, motioned to Kennedy she was going to get a drink and walked away. Kennedy stayed dancing. Faith walked to the drinks but noticed Xander and Willow standing around looking like someone had just kicked their puppies.
Faith walked up between them and asked, "What are you two so mopey about?"
Snapping out of it Xander tried to cover, "We're not mopey. We're groovin. On Oz's band. He's a great guy, Oz."
Faith looked at the band and listened for a bit, they were pretty good.
"He wrote this song for me." Willow said, her guilt in her voice.
Faith, unable to resist, looked around and noticed Scott dancing really close to some blond chick that Faith didn't know. He looked like he was in love or something and Faith couldn't resist saying to Willow and Xander as she pointed to Scott, "sleazebag." Disgusted by both Scott and the lack of reaction her comment got, Faith walked away. She found Kennedy again and went back to dancing, hoping Buffy showed up soon.
Willow and Xander just continued to stand there, moping, even after Giles came along and tried to joke with them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy and Cordy were still running through the woods, Buffy hoping to find a way to beat whoever was hunting them, Cordy was thinking only of her own survival though she knew enough to stick close to Buffy.
Cordy began talking, her voice raised both to be heard by Buffy who was running in front of her and also because she was truly scared, "I have an idea, we talk to these people, we explain that I'm not a slayer and they let me go."
Buffy had stopped running when Cordy began talking, seeing soon that Cordy's idea was self serving as usual. Buffy didn't see the bear trap in front of her and only Cordy's warning and her quick Slayer reflexes allowed her to avoid having her foot caught in the trap. Buffy turned to thank Cordy but saw the man with a rifle aimed at them and threw Cordy to the ground as the man shot off a round. Buffy picked up the trap she missed and hurled it at the guy, hitting him and making him stumble backwards into a second trap and getting caught. Buffy ran to the guy and picked up the rifle that he dropped when he got caught.
Buffy watched as the guy tried with no luck to pry apart the trap to release his leg.
"That's gotta smart." Buffy said, referring not only to the physical pain of the trap but also the blow to the guys ego for getting caught in his own trap. Buffy decided to get a little information from the guy. "Now, I can let you out of that, or I can put a bullet in your head. How many are there in this little game and what are they packing?"
The guy just stared in silence, thinking she was bluffing. Buffy cocked the rifle and aimed it, letting him know she would have no problem shooting him. Her bluff worked as he began to talk to save his own skin.
"There's me, two Germans with AR-15s and grenade launcher, yellow-skinned demon with long knives, vampire couple from Texas named Gorch."
"Is that everybody?"
"Everybody who's out here. Germans are wired, their boss is tracking them on computer. Now get me outta this!" The pain and humiliation was making him edgy.
Cordelia felt the need to ask, "Could I just ask you an eensy favor? Could you just tell your friends that I'm not---" Whatever she was going to say was cut off by two sharp, funky looking knives embedding themselves into a nearby tree. Both girls took off then, leaving the guy in his trap.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Faith was sitting with Kennedy in a quiet corner talking in low tones so as not to attract attention. "I feel like I should do something Kenn. I mean he hurt the girl I care about, and he got away with it."
"Faith, I get how you feel and believe me I totally understand but, I don't think Buffy would want you kicking Scott's ass at the homecoming dance you know?"
"I wasn't talking about violence. I don't always use violence...do I?" Faith asked, curious.
"Not always but about 97% of the time you hit first and ask questions later...much later, like the following week later." Kennedy saw the look on Faith's face, "C'mon Faith, you're a slayer. Violence is how you do things because that's all the vampires and demons listen to anyway. With humans though...a different approach is needed. And I think I know how you can get a little revenge on Scott without resorting to violence."
"Oh yeah? How?"
"Come closer, grasshopper." Kennedy took on a lousy Chinese accent as she pulled Faith closer and began whispering in her ear the plan she formed. Faith listened, grinning as she got the full impact of Kennedy's devious nature.
Faith pulled back when Kennedy finished, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Damn Kenn, remind me not to piss you off."
"Oh you could never do anything that bad...well unless you hurt Willow or Cordelia of course."
"Understood. Be right back."
Kennedy nodded as Faith walked away, holding a purple plastic cup that belonged to Kennedy. It was her excuse for being so close to the concession table where Scott was slow dancing with his date. Faith walked up to them pulled them apart all polite smiles and sweetness as she moved to step between them and look at Scott.
Faiths voice was all sweetness and light as she said, loud enough to be heard by not only his date but a few people nearby, "Scott? There you are, honey. Hey, good news, the doctor says that the itching and the swelling and the burning should clear up, but we gotta keep using the ointment." Faith turned then and noticed his date who was looking a little grossed out. "Hi." Faith turned back to Scott and smiled as she patted him on the shoulders before walking away and leaving him to explain to his date what that was all about.
Faith walked back to Kennedy and grinned as she saw Kennedy trying not to laugh.
Faith sat down next to Kennedy, "thanks sis, worked like a charm."
"Yeah I know. I stood up and got closer to hear it all. Damn you were so convincing."
"Yeah well...wasn't hard. Besides, I had a great muse."
The sisters laughed as they watched Scott trying to explain what just happened to his date who looked ready to leave him right then and there.
This was turning into a fun dance after all.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy and Cordy ran until they found an abandoned cabin and took shelter in it. Buffy barricaded the door before went around closing the curtains. She spoke to Cordy the whole time, "We should be safe in here for a while. You need to find a weapon."
But Cordy's fear was too strong right then, forcing anything else out of her mind as she said, "Safe? I'm not safe. I'm gonna die."
Buffy looked at Cordy as she just stood there, freaking out. "Yeah you are if you just stand there."
"I'm never gonna be crowned homecoming queen. I'm never gonna graduate from high school. I'm never gonna know if its real between me and Xander, or if it was just some temporary insanity that made me think...I loved him. I'm never gonna have the chance to know if he loves me too or if this is all just one big game to him. A way to pass the time until something, in his mind better, comes along. And I'm never gonna get the chance to tell him."
Buffy finally got fed up with Cordy's 'poor me' attitude and walked up her and said, "Yes you are. Were gonna get out of here, and we are gonna head back to the library where Giles and the rest of the weapons live. Then I am gonna take out the rest of these guys just in time for you to congratulate me on my sweeping victory as homecoming queen." Buffy walked away then, hoping her little speech ignited Cordy's anger, knowing the anger would outshine the fear.
"I know what you're up to. You think if you get me mad enough, I won't be so scared. And hey...it's working. Where's a damn weapon?" Cordy began looking around for something to use as a weapon and Buffy turned back to the window, grinning.
Buffy couldn't resist asking though, "You really, love Xander?"
"Well, he kinda grows on you, like a Chia Pet. But I don't know if he loves me. He has always been too busy crushing on you." Cordy, distracted by the conversation picked up a spatula and brought it for Buffy's inspection.
"Xander got over his crush on me a while ago Cordy. Trust me."
"How do you know?"
"Remember last year when he had Amy cast that love spell?" Cordy nodded, it was that spell that made her give Xander an honest chance. "Well that spell worked on me too and I practically threw myself at him in nothing but a trench coat and a smile...and Xander didn't take the bait. He turned me down because he wanted you." Buffy finally noticed the spatula in Cordy's hand, "That's it?"
"Just this and a telephone."
"A telephone, and you didn't think that'd be helpful?" It was like talking with a two year old.
"No this is better for--" Cordy demonstrated hitting a demon with the spatula before it occurred to her that a phone could be used to call for help. "Oh." Cordy pointed to where the phone was and Buffy went to it and dialed the library, hoping Giles was around.
Buffy got the machine and left a message telling Giles where they were and to get help. But the line was cut off before she could finish her sentence.
Cordy sat down on a cot near the wall while Buffy went to keep a look out at the window.
"Why is it that every time I go somewhere with you, it always ends in violence and terror?"
"Welcome to my life." Buffy said, a little distracted.
"I don't wanna be in your life. I wanna be in my life."
Buffy turned and pointed at the door with the rifle in her hand, "Well, there's the door. Please feel free to walk out at any time and live your life." Buffy knew Cordy wouldn't but couldn't resist saying it.
"All I wanted was to be homecoming queen."
Buffy finally let go of a little of her self control. "And that's all I wanted too Cordelia. I spent a year's allowance on this dress."
"I don't even get why you care about homecoming, when you're doing stuff like this." Cordy knew that what Buffy did as the slayer was far more important in the big picture than homecoming or stuff like that.
Buffy was beyond frustrated as she tried to explain to Cordy what she'd explained to Faith, "Because 'this' is all I do. This is what my life is. You couldn't understand." Buffy knew Cordy wouldn't get it, not like Faith had but she had to try to explain, "I just thought...homecoming queen. I could pick up a yearbook someday and say, I was there, I went to high school, I had friends and for one moment, I got to live in the world. And there'd be proof---proof...that I was chosen...for something other than this. Besides," Buffy said as she cocked the rifle again, "I look cute in a tiara."
Cordy listened and thought maybe she understood. Everyone wanted to be remembered, to have at least one memory from high school that didn't totally and completely suck. A noise outside drew Cordy's attention. "Do you hear--" Before she could finish her sentence, a yellow-skinned demon crashed through the window and jumped on Buffy.
The fight that followed was a little comical as Cordy tried hitting the demon with the spatula, then misfired the rifle then went back to the spatula as Buffy did the majority of the damage. When Buffy saw the little silver rocket-like projectile land at her feet, she knew it wasn't a toy and she grabbed Cordy and they crashed though another window. The yellow demon tried to do the same through another window but it was boarded up so he landed back in the room, inches from the bomb.
Buffy and Cordy were a safe distance away when the cabin exploded, throwing them to the ground.
Buffy turned to look at Cordy and said, "We gotta get back to the library."
Cordy agreed and got up to follow Buffy out of the woods and towards the library. It took them another 30 minutes but they finally made it back to the school. Buffy and Cordy were walking the hallway, heading for the library as Buffy laid out their options.
"Jungle Bob and spike-head are down and out. We've lost the Germans twice, but they seem to keep finding us. If we take them out and the Gorches, we can still make homecoming."
"Those animals! Hunting us down like poor, defenseless---well animals."
They walked into the library as Buffy said, "We just need to find Giles---ooh!" Before Buffy could react she was grabbed by a female vampire in tacky clothing and attacked. Buffy recovered quickly and was on her feet as Cordy threw her the spatula. Buffy stuck the wooden handle of the spatula in the vampires heart and took one last hit before the vampire dusted.
Behind her, the male vampire, Lyle Gorch, screamed, "Candy!" He began to rush at the slayers. "I'm gonna kill both you slayers for this!"
Cordy, used to dealing with men who thought they could bully their way to whatever they wanted, stepped in front of Lyle as Buffy was recovering from the last blow 'Candy' gave her with the coat rack.
"You hear me?"
Cordy got mad, "yeah I hear you, you redneck moron. You got a dress that goes with that hat?"
"I'm gonna---"
"Rip out my innards, play with my eyeballs, boil my brain and eat it for brunch? Listen up, needle-brain. Buffy and I have taken out four of your cronies, not to mention your girlfriend."
"Wife!" Lyle felt the need to clarify that, his anger making him stand there and seethe.
"Whatever. The point is, I haven't even broken a sweat. See, in the end, Buffy's just the runner-up. I'm the queen, you get me mad, what do you think I'm gonna do to you?"
Cordy stared him down, daring him to do something stupid. It was all a bluff on Cordy's end but it worked as after a bit of thinking, Lyle decided it was better to run and live to fight another day than get dusted right then and there.
He left faster than the roadrunner in those old cartoons. Cordy smiled, proud of herself for scaring away the vampire. Then she helped Buffy get up and then they helped Giles get up. Giles began straightening up the mess as Buffy and Cordy took a quick breather.
They explained what had happened to them so far and Giles was very proud of both of them. They got to the part with the Gorches and Buffy said, "That should teach him to mistake you for a slayer."
"I must admit I do feel partly responsible. I did give your friends tacit approval to make the switch in the limousine." Giles said, guiltily.
Buffy let it go, "Aw it's OK. It gave Cor and I a chance to spend some quality death time."
"And we got these free corsages."
Buffy pulled hers off from her back where it pinned on as Giles said, "that's nice...although I don't recall them mentioning corsages."
That got Buffy thinking. "Jungle Bob said the Germans were hooked into a computer system." Buffy carefully studied her corsage and saw the tiny metal tracking device embedded in the flower. "And they're hooked into us."
The loud slam of an outer door caught their attention and Cordelia yanked her corsage off and handed it to Buffy telling her to get rid of it.
Buffy formed a plan and ran to the girls bathroom to get wet toilet paper to dampen the signal for a bit.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The dance was winding down. Faith, Kennedy, Willow, Oz, and Xander were standing together as Devon stood on the stage to announce the Homecoming Queen.
"Hey guys," Devon began, enjoying his moment of power. "the moment we've all been waiting for."
Willow turned to Oz, forgetting for a moment that Faith and Kennedy were nearby and said, "they're gonna announce the queen. Where are they? What's keeping them?"
Kennedy saw them first as they walked through the crowd. They looked like they'd been fighting, "I'm gonna go with mud wrestling."
They all turned to look at Cordy and Buffy and Xander was the first to speak, "Oh god! What did you two do to each other?"
Faith grinned, she knew if they had really been fighting each other, Cordy would look a lot worse than that, provided she could still stand.
"It's a long story."
"Got hunted."
"Apparently not that long." Buffy didn't wanna get into what had happened yet. "Tell you one thing though, you don't wanna mess with Cordelia."
Xander laughed as if he found that really funny but one look from Cordy and he stopped laughing.
Faith made her way over to Buffy and stood behind her and out of the way as she tapped Buffy's shoulder and whispered, "you sure you're ok?"
Buffy just nodded as she smiled at Faith.
Kennedy watched them and she too moved to stand near Cordy and asked her the same thing. Cordy nodded and they all focused on Devon again.
"In this envelope, I hold the name of this year's homecoming queen."
Cordy turned to Buffy, "After all that we've been through tonight, this whole who-gets-to-be-queen capade seems pretty---"
"Damn important."
"Oh yeah."
Glad they were both on the same page, Cordy and Buffy turned back to the stage.
"And the winner is," Devon opened the envelope, "hey I believe we have a first for Sunnydale High. We have a tie, the winners are...Holly Charleston and Michelle Blake."
Buffy and Cordy were in a stunned silence as they watched their two rivals walk on the stage and accept the crown that should have been theirs.
Buffy looked at her friends then turned to Faith, "Hey um, I'm pretty tired, can I get a ride home?"
"Yeah sure." Faith turned to find Kennedy, "C'mon Kenn time to go home."
Though reluctant, Kennedy said goodbye to Cordy and the gang then followed Faith and Buffy out. Giles agreed to drive Cordy and Xander home while Oz got Willow home.
In the car on the way to Buffy's Kennedy pretended to fall asleep in the back seat to give them some privacy. Faith reached out and held Buffy's hand as she drove. Buffy explained what had happened and about SlayerFest.
"Damn, B. I wish I'd been there. Sounds like a blast."
"Then I'm telling it wrong. It wasn't fun Faith. In fact it was scary. But I knew I couldn't lose it or else wed both be dead. Though I will admit a part of me was wishing you'd been there, then the rest of me was glad you weren't."
"Why were you glad I wasn't there?" Faith was curious.
"Because, if something happened to me and I had died out there, at least you were still safe. There'd be another slayer on the hellmouth and my friends and family would be safe. But if you'd been there with me, and we both died...no slayer on the hellmouth to keep the humans safe." Buffy paused over the lie, knowing that if Faith had been there and had died there, Kennedy would've been called and the hellmouth would still have a slayer.
Faith nodded, understanding where Buffy was coming from. They pulled up to Buffy's house and noticed all the lights were off. "Mom and Dawn must be asleep. Thanks for the ride Faith."
"Anytime B."
Buffy and Faith leaned forward together and kissed goodnight. Buffy pulled away and got out of the car. As usual, Faith waited until Buffy was in her house before pulling away. As she did she grinned, "You can stop pretending to be asleep now Kenn."
Kennedy sat up, "How'd you know I was faking?"
"I can always tell...besides, you never could fall asleep in a car."
"Oh yeah. Well good thing Buffy doesn't know that, huh?" Kennedy said as she climbed into the front seat.
"Yeah...good thing."
"So you and her...progressing nicely?"
Faith chuckled as she turned onto their block. "Yeah Kenn we are. We're taking it slow so we don't mess it up. But it's been really good."
"Good I'm glad. She seems to make you happy Faith and...well you need that."
"Thanks Kenn...yeah I do. I'm glad I found B."
"Me too. Now all we need is for Oz to vanish and I can have Willow and we'll both be happy."
Faith laughed, "I think it's gonna take more than just Oz being gone Kenn."
"True...but not much more."
Faith laughed again as they got out of the car and walked into their apartment. She wasn't even going to try to understand where Kennedy got all this confidence. She was just glad she had it.
Sleep came easily for the sisters and the dreams, while racy, stayed just below the NC-17 rating.
TBC...